14

The morning sunlight flowed through the jagged hole where the window used to be. It glinted off the shattered glass into Robin's eyes, making her squint as she crossed the office to join the others in the conference room. They had spent most of the night trying to figure out exactly what had happened. The shard was gone. That much they knew. It was how and why that they couldn't seem to grasp.

"What was that guy anyway?" Sakaki asked.

"A witch?" Dojima suggested.

"No way. He had more powers than god," Michael said.

"It was like chasing the JUMP card," Sakaki agreed.

"Even Robin's power didn't affect them," Dojima sighed.

"And how did they know about the shard?" Karasuma wondered. "No one knew about it except us and the lab guys."

"That dead witch knew about it," Dojima pointed out. "He could have told someone."

"Probably not," Amon commented. "He would have put himself at risk by talking about the shard."

"The other witches on the list would have known about the shard already," Robin pointed out.

Amon shook his head. "If one of them was behind it, they would have just killed Mune and taken the shard from him. Why take the risk of stealing it from us?"

"Yeah," Sakaki echoed. "Who would go to the trouble of coming here?"

"Since when are demons rational?" Michael asked.

"You really think he's a demon?" Dojima thought out loud.

"Yeah. What else could he be?" Michael said.

"Whatever he is, he's running around with an artifact that could make his powers even stronger," Karasuma said, summing it all up.

A loud tapping noise made them all look up. Chief Kosaka's private office was suspended half a story above the floor of the main office. It was accessible only by a narrow staircase in one corner of the large room. The chief himself was rapping on the big plexi-glass window that overlooked the conference room.

"Are you ready to listen to my story now?" he asked, loud enough for the others to hear him.

15

"My grandmother told me a story once," the Chief began, sitting down at his old desk on the main floor. "She said it was true, but I didn't believe it at the time. I was young and I thought I knew everything. Anyway, she said that there was once a magic jewel that could grant wishes and give demons incredible powers. Sometime during the Feudal Era, the jewel was shattered and the pieces scattered all over Japan. My grandmother said that even one piece could increase one's natural power tenfold. Demons were always after these pieces and countless people died fighting over them. If that little stone you found was really a sacred jewel shard, then you're all in for a world of trouble. Those two weirdoes are just the beginning."

"That's it? That's all you know?" Dojima asked.

"That's all I know," the Chief answered. "But there's someone who might know more. I was talking to one of my friends in the Tokyo police early this morning. He said he knew an expert in Feudal Era history who might be able to help."

"An expert, huh?" Sakaki said. "Where do we find this guy?"

"He's the caretaker of a shrine in the suburbs of Tokyo. The Higurashi Shrine. I got the address." The Chief took a slip of paper from the desk and handed it to Amon.

"Road trip," Sakaki proposed with obvious delight.

"You're staying here," Amon said flatly as he studied the address.

"Why?" Sakaki asked, crestfallen.

"Robin and I are going to the shrine. You and the others have to go through all of Mune's past contacts. This legend might be a dead end and we can't afford to waste a whole day. Find out who he might have told about the shard."

"You mean I have to stay here too?" Dojima wailed. "But it's so boring here."

"It wouldn't be so boring if you actually worked once in a while," Chief Kosaka jabbed as he walked back towards the staircase up to his office.

Dojima bristled. "I work all the time! I'm always working! You're just a slave driver!"

"Happy hunting," the Chief called back with mock glee and slammed his office door.

Dojima turned her back to the Chief's office so he wouldn't see how angry she was. She noticed Amon and Robin heading for the elevator.

"Why does he take her everywhere he goes?" she asked, leaning closer to Karasuma who was sitting nearby. "I'll bet something happened out there at one of those motels."

"Dojima," Robin said gently. "We're not even out of the room yet."

Dojima froze, but only for a moment.

"O yeah, something definitely happened."

Robin followed Amon into the elevator. The doors were just closing when Karasuma dodged in between them.

"I'm coming with you," she said simply. Nobody argued.